Whistle-operating mechanism.



E. W. BULLARD.

WHISTLE OPERATING MECHANISM, APPLlCATION FILED 00%. I, 1912.

1 1 78,467 Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Turn 4';

WITNESSES: 11V VENTOR.

A TTORNEKS.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

Uni s Arias PATENT EDWIN w. BULLARD, or srnmorienn- MASSACHUSETTS.

WHISTLE-OPERATING; MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern.

iBe it known that I, EDWIN W. BULLARD, a citizen .of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new .and useful Whistle- Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My inventionrelates to improvements in sound-producing devices of the type known as whistles or horns and its'application as shown herein is to the type of whistle or horn in which the sound is produced by the forcible ejection of air, gases,.as the spent gases from the exhaust of a gasolene engine, or equivalent medium, through constricted orifices, and inthis instance the invention resides in certain peculiar electrically-operated means \vherewith to constrict the opening in the whistle whereby-the sound is'produced by the outrushing current of air, gas,

or other medium, and to open such exit to an extent that no sound is produced by the aforesaid sound-producing medium, the same being in addition to the ordinary means employed for a similar purpose and operated by hand or foot through mechanical connections.

Ingeneral my invention comprises the employment of magnets and solenoids for operating a movable member to cause it to 00 cupy a position to cause the whistle to be sounded. A simple form of whistle 0r horn as shown herein as illustrating the application of my invention consists of a body provided with a shutter, a second shutter or valve adapted to perform the same work as the first, an electro-magnet which may be mounted on said first-mentioned valve, and means for operating said second valve by said magnet, all as hereinafter set forth.

Ordinarily whistles which are blown by i the exhaust fromthe engine of an automobile are operated by mechanical means connected with a suitably-located foot or hand lever, but it is desirable to operate such whistles from the steering post or wheel or some otherequally convenient point and to operate them by electrical means, forobvious reasons, the object of my invention, t r for i t provlde a Wh e ith-else Specification of Ilettersjfatent Application filed October 1,1912. SeriaIN 723,321.

Patented A rA, 1916.

tr-ical operating means, and this by preference beingiin addition to the ordinary me? :chanical operating means, to the end that the operator may sound the whistle from 'a point-most convenient to hishand,'by simply pressing a button, and may also soundthe same by mechanical means, so that he may resort to either one of two independent actuating or operating medlums.

A further object of my invention is to 1 produce means for electrically operating whistles, which means isv comparatively simple and inexpensive and can without'difficulty be incorporated with a whistle'of ordinaryconstrucltion. 1

' .Other objects will appear in the course of i the following description. 1 1

I attain the objects ofmy invention by the .means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which I show one practical em- 2 bodiment of my invention, and in which drawings? a V Figure l is a sideelevation of a whistle or horn. equipped with one form of my improved operating mechanism, both shutters inthis'view being shown open. FigzQ'is a I longitudinal vertical section through said whistle or horn anditsassociated parts, and in which the electrically operated 1 shutter is. shownin its closed position. Fig. 3 isy-a sectional view simi lar to Fig. 2 except that the electric operating mechanism is'shown in elevation and the mechanically operated shutter is shown in its closed position, the electrically operated shutter :being also closed, the closing of 'the latter shutter, however, being incidental to the closingof the mechanically operated shutter; and .Fig. 4 is an end elevation (of the device shown in Fig. 1. I

Similar figures of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several'views.

First describingbriefly the old and wellknown elements which are utilized in this embodiment'ofmy invention, and'then fol-p lowing with a detailed description of the new features as here illustrated, andafterward describing the operation of the device as whole, referring to the drawings, I show a hornor whistle consisting of a casing di-' Yid dfli lfio We p rts, vi rear and. fron chambers, an opening being provided in the upper side of said casing which extends both in front of and at the rear of the substantially vertical partition as indicated at 5-5.

The casing 1 is designed to be attached to g the exhaust conduit of an automobile engine, the discharge of gases or other fluid being into the chamber 3, and when the device is not being sounded, through the opening in the top of said chamber. If, however, this opening be closed by means of the shutter 6 the'orifice being restricted causes the device to give forth sound in the well known manspectively attached to ,the support 13 and the plate 12 at their upper terminals and normally retains the valve 6 in its elevated or open position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The upward movement of the valve 6 is here limited by means of an electro-magnet or solenoid 15, the upper rear edge of which comes in contact with the support 13 and so limits the movement of said valve under the influence of the spring 1 1.

The solenoid 15 has a plunger 16 which is centrally bored to receive a spring 17 and a guide rod 18 that extends inwardly from the inner face of a fixed part 19 of the core of which said plunger is also a part. The tendency of the spring 17,'which spring is located between the inner end of the rod 18 and the adjacent end of the passage in which said spring and rod are received, is to force the plunger 16 outwardly or rearwardly so as to form a gap between adjacent ends of said plunger and the part 19, and although light said spring has sufiicient power not only to actuate the plunger but also the members which are operated by the plunger. Extending rearwardly from the exposed end of the plunger 16 is a headed post 20. At 2121 appear portions of the circuit-forming wires which are attached to the solenoid. The electrical energy is derived either from batteries or a magneto, as in other cases .where such energy is employed in and about automobiles.

Nested within the valve 6 and its side pieces 8 and having said valve superimposed is a second valve 22 provided with side pieces 23-23. The rear terminals of the side pieces 23 are mounted on the pivot 9 inside of the side pieces 8. The valve 22 is designed and adapted to close the opening in the chamber 3 and to form the orifice 7 in precisely the same manner as does the valve 6, or as the latter would close such opening in the absence of said valve. 22. The

valve 22, which is in the path of the valve 6, first comes to rest on the side edges of the opening in the top of the chamber 3, and the valve 6 comes to rest on top of said valve 22, when the valve 6 is the one used or operated for producing the sound, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. In the absence of the valve 22, the valve 6 would come to rest directly on the upper edges of the sides of the opening in the chamber 3 and became a direct factor in the formation of the orifice 7, as hereinbefore intimated and as is the case in the old construction. Rigidly attached to the rear end or edge of the valve 22 is an upwardly and rearwardly extending arm 24: which has a head 25 at its free end to be received be tween the head of the post 20 and the adjacent end of the plunger 16. The arrangement of parts is such that when the plunger 16 is thrust outwardly by the spring 17 it carries with it the arm 2 and so causes the side pieces 23 to turn on the pivot 9 and the valve 22 to be swung upwardly against the underside of the valve 6, and that when said plunger is drawn inwardly under the influence of the magnetism produced when an electric current is passed through the solenoid 15 said valve 22 is swung downwardly into position to form the orifice 7 through the same medium as before, the oscillating parts moving on the pivot 9. The head 25 of the arm 2% follows the plunger 16 in both cases. There is a slot or recess 26 in the support 13 for the accommodation of the post 20 and the arm 24.

Since both valves and the solenoid are mounted on the same pivot it is obvious that when said valves are drawn down or closed by means of'the link 10 no change in relation takes place between the plunger 16 and the arm With the parts standing as shown in Fig. 1 the complete operation of the whistle and its mechanism is as follows: If it be desired to blow the whistle by the mechanical means that operates through the link 10, the proper action is taken or movement made to draw down said link and so swing downward both valves 6 and 22 against the resiliency of the spring 14:, to form the orifice 7, as shown in Fig. 3. Normally the spring 1 1 retains the valve 6 in open position and the spring 17 performs a like oflice for the valve 22, so that both valves are in contact and both move down with the link 10. So long as the valves are retained in the closed position just referred to the whistle is sounded, assuming, of course, that the necessary sound producingielementis being forced through the same, and upon. the release of the link so that theparts which are under the influence of the spring 14 can swing upwardly upon the pivot?) the sound ceases, because the opening thus made'bythe moving away of the valves from the upper edge of the partition 2 is large enoughYfor the sound-producing element to escape noiselessly. r

lVhen the whistle is to be operated electrically, as by pressure on a pushebutton located on the steering-wheel or steering-post, the energized solenoid 15 causesthe plunger 16 to move inwardly, against the resiliency of the spring 17, and to carry with it the head of the arm 24, with the result that the valve 22 is swung downwardly into closed position, as shown in Fig. 2. The valve 22 moves downward away from the valve 6 and independently thereof. The whistle now sounds and continues to sound until the controlling push-button or other form of switch is released, when such sound ceases, because. then the de'e'nergized solenoid releases the plunger 16 to the spring 17 and the latter forces said plunger outwardly, and, through the medium of the arm 24, causes the valve 22 to be actuated upwardly against the valve 6, thus making a clear and practically unobstructed passage for the noise-producing element.

do not desire to be limited in any way to the particular construction herein set fortl in detail. 7

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a whistle or horn casing having an exit opening therein and a fixed member adjacent to such opening, of

7 an electrically-operated member adapted to cooperate with said fixed member for the purpose of forming a sound-producing aperture, and a mechanically operated member arranged and adapted to form such aperture, said fixed member together with said movable members forming between them the sound producing'orifice. 1

2. The combination, with a whistle or horn casing having an exit opening therein and a fixed member adjacent to. such opening, of an electrically-operated member arranged and adapted to cooperate with said fixed member for the purpose of forming a 4 Although I have herein shown and desound-producing aperture, and a mechani- Cally-operated member similarly arranged and adapted as is said electrically-operated member, said last-named member being in the path ofsaid mechanically-operated member. f I I 3. The combination, with a whistle casing having an exit opening therein. and provided 1 with a fixed member adjacent to such ope ning, of tWo shutters mounted adjacent "to such opening and to such fixed member, one

of such shutters being adapted to be operated independently of the other or in conjunction with the other as the case may be, electricallyoperated means for the independent shutter and mechanically-operated means for the other shutter.

A. The combination, with a whistle casing having an opening therein and provided with a fixed member adjacent to such opening, of an inner shutter pivotally mounted adjacent to such opening and to such fixed member, electrically-operated means for said shutter, an outer shutter also pivotally mounted on said casing, and-mechanicallyoperating means for said outer shutter, said inner shutter being in the path of said outer shutter. i

5. The combination, with a whistle 01- horn casing having an exit opening therein and provided with a fixed member adjacent to such opening, of operating mechanism comprising two shutters mounted adjacent to such opening and to said fiXedmember, mechanically-operating means for one of such shutters, and electrically-operated means for the other of such shutters, said electrically-operating 'means being mounted on the mechanically operated shutter.

6. The combination, with a. whistle casing having an exit opening therein and pro vided with a fixed member adjacent to such opening, of operating mechanism compristo such fixed member,'resilient means to normally retain both said shutters in open position, mechanically-operated means arranged to close both of said shutters, and electrically-operated means mounted on said outer shutter and adapted to close said inner shutter independently of said outer shutter.

ing outer and inner shutters ,pivotally 8. The combination, with awhistle or horn on said outer shutter and having a springcasing having an exit opening therein and propressed plunger, and an-arm carried by said 10 vided With a fixed member adjacent to such inner shutter and operatively engaged With opening, of operating mechanism comprising said Plunger.

z; inner and outer shutters movably mounted EDWIN W. BULLARD.

adjacent to such opening, resilient means WVitnesses: adapted to normally retain said'outer shut- F. A. CUTTER, ter in its vopen position, a solenoid mounted A. C. FAIRBANKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latentn, Washington, D. C. 

